Gathering Husbands with a System in a Game Like World [BL]

Ayan was standing by the window when Kai came in.

The young man had changed into a clean clinic shirt, the bandaged arm held a little stiffly against his side. The Afternoon light caught his profile and made the soft lines of his face look even more delicate. The moment he noticed Kai, his expression flickered between surprise and something awe before settling into a scowl.

"You actually came back."

Kai closed the door behind him.

"I said I would."

"People say a lot of things."

Ayan turned fully away from the window and sat on the edge of the bed, legs hanging down, posture defensive. Up close he still looked pale from blood loss, but his eyes were clear and wary.

Kai pulled the single chair over and sat.

"How’s the arm?"

"Fine. Stop looking at it like it’s going to fall off."

"I’m looking at it because you were bleeding all over the forest a few hours ago."

Ayan clicked his tongue and looked away. The tips of his ears were faintly pink.

Silence settled for a moment. It wasn’t completely uncomfortable, but it carried weight.

"You’re not from around here are you?" Kai said eventually.

Ayan’s shoulders tensed a fraction.

"What makes you say that?"

"I just have a good sense i guess "

"Ah!!"

Ayan was quiet for a few seconds, then exhaled through his nose.

"I’m from Astopia."

The System stirred immediately.

[Astopia: Major northern trade city. Known for strict adventurer hierarchies, cold climate, and high concentration of independent parties. Political climate is unstable due to frequent territorial disputes between Guild factions and private organizations]

Kai filed the information away.

"Long way from home."

"Didn’t have much reason to stay."

Ayan’s voice had gone flatter. He picked at the edge of his bandage with his free hand, not looking at Kai.

"What brought you to Veyrhold then?"

"Work. Same as everyone else."

"Adventurer work?"

"...Yeah."

Kai leaned back slightly in the chair.

"You in a party?"

The reaction was small but immediate. Ayan’s fingers stopped moving. His jaw tightened. For a second it looked like he might shut the conversation down completely. Then he spoke, quieter than before.

"I was."

Kai waited.

Ayan’s throat worked.

"We weren’t famous or anything. Just a solid B-rank party. We took the jobs nobody else wanted and we survived them. Thirty A-rank monster subjugations on record. Even made it through a contract on the Red Continent."

The System spoke again,

[Red Continent: Restricted high-risk zone on the eastern edge of the mapped world. Characterized by unstable mana density, aggressive endemic species, and residual corruption from an unclassified historical event. Average mortality rate for unrestricted expeditions exceeds sixty percent. Survivors are statistically rare and often permanently altered. Official Guild advice is avoidance unless under large-scale coordinated operation.]

Kai’s eyebrows rose slightly.

"That’s... not a small list of achievements."

Ayan let out a short, humorless breath.

"Yeah. Turns out it was big enough to get noticed."

He finally looked at Kai again. Something raw sat behind his eyes.

"The Red Ledger approached us after we got back from the Continent. Made an offer. Better pay, better protection, exclusive contracts. We said no. We liked working independently."

His voice dropped.

"They didn’t like that answer."

Kai felt the air in the room change.

Ayan’s next words came out tight, like they were being forced past something sharp.

"They killed them. All of them. Waited until we were split up on a routine job and hit us one by one. I only got away because I was already injured from the contract and had stayed behind at the temporary camp. By the time I realized what was happening it was too late."

His eyes had gone shiny. He blinked hard, once, and looked down at his own hands.

"I left Astopia after that. Kept moving. Ended up here."

Kai didn’t speak for a moment. The clinic room suddenly felt too small.

"I’m sorry," he said quietly.

Ayan gave a tiny, broken shrug.

"Doesn’t change anything."

"About the red Ledgers..."

"They approached your friends didn’t they?"

Kai sighed softly not knowing what to say.

Then, without looking up, he reached out and caught Kai’s wrist. His fingers were colder than they should have been. The grip was tight.

"Don’t get involved with them," Ayan said, voice low and urgent. "Whatever you’re doing in this city, whatever attention you’ve already pulled, stay away from the Red Ledger. They’re not just another syndicate. They don’t leave survivors on purpose."

Kai looked down at the hand on his wrist. Ayan’s thumb was pressed hard against his pulse point, like he was trying to anchor himself.

The System’s voice cut in, sharp and clear.

[Physical contact detected. Foreign mana signature attempting to establish a tracking link through skin contact. Classification: Tailing-type marker. Low complexity, high persistence.]

[Host is advised to avoid visible reaction. Marker can be severed cleanly. Proceed?]

Kai kept his expression neutral. He met Ayan’s eyes and found worry there, real and unguarded for once, mixed with whatever messy feelings the young man was still trying to hide behind the scowls.

He gave the mental confirmation.

[Severance initiated.]

A faint, almost imperceptible warmth passed under Kai’s skin where Ayan’s fingers touched him. The foreign mana signature frayed, then dissolved.

[Marker successfully removed. No residual link remains.]

Ayan didn’t seem to notice. He was still holding on, still looking at Kai like he could will him into understanding the danger.

Kai gently pulled his wrist free. Ayan’s hand lingered in the air for a second before falling back to his own lap. The young man looked away again, jaw tight, eyes still too bright.

"I’ll be careful," Kai said.

It wasn’t a promise to stay away. They both knew that.

Ayan let out a short breath that might have been a laugh if it hadn’t sounded so tired.

"You’re going to ignore me, aren’t you."

"I’m going to be careful," Kai repeated.

Silence stretched between them again. This time it felt heavier.

Eventually Kai stood.

"Get some rest. I’ll come by again tomorrow."

Ayan didn’t answer. He just turned his face toward the window, shoulders drawn in.

Kai left the clinic with the image of that small, tight posture stuck in his mind. Outside, the green-tinted light of Veyrhold felt too bright. He walked a few steps down the street, then stopped and looked back at the clinic windows.

Then he exhaled and started walking again.

Ayan had tried to put a tracking marker on him while telling him to stay safe. The worry in his voice had seemed real. The warning about the Red Ledger had been real. And still, at the same time, he had tried to leave a tracker on Kai’s skin.

Kai didn’t know yet whether that was care, fear, or something more complicated.

He only knew that Candidate 006 was already proving to be just as much of a headache as the rest of them.

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